


Classic Doctor Who Whumptober

by Lady_Sci_Fi



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-07-28 05:21:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 15,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16235009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Sci_Fi/pseuds/Lady_Sci_Fi
Summary: 31 stories of pain and angst for various Classic Who characters.





	1. Stabbed- Second Doctor/Jamie, Zoe

**Author's Note:**

> This series is for the Whumptober October Challenge.

 “Ah!” Jamie cried out as the other man’s sword stabbed him deeply in the thigh. He fell heavily to the ground, and barely raised his dagger in time to block the sword from slicing his arm.

 “That’s enough!” The Doctor rushed in to grab the other man’s wrist before he could take another strike at Jamie. “You’ve proved your point. Now, if you would allow me to take care of my companion?”

 The guard nodded and walked away to give them space.

 The Doctor quickly turned and knelt next to Jamie. Zoe had kneeled behind the younger man and had her arms protectively around him. “Honestly, Jamie...” she said in concern.

 The Doctor pried Jamie’s hand from over the blood-stained spot of his torn kilt, then pushed the fabric up to get a good look at the wound. Zoe winced and turned her head away from the sight.

 “There was no need to provoke an already hostile situation,” the Doctor quietly admonished as he pulled out his handkerchief and tightly pressed it against the bleeding wound.

 “I’d rather he use that great sword of his against me than you,” Jamie forced out through gritted teeth. He tilted his head back against Zoe’s shoulder and grunted from the pain.

 “Sorry,” the Doctor apologized. “I doubt that barbaric fellow is going to bring back any medical supplies, so I’ll have to make do until we can get somewhere that has them.”

 “He’ll be alright, won’t he?” Zoe asked, still keeping her eyes closed.

 “I expect so,” the Doctor answered, using Jamie’s dagger to cut off a strip of Jamie’s jumper. He spared a second to brush his fingers over Jamie’s clenched fist next to the wounded thigh. He then cut off nearly half of his own shirtsleeve and added it to the handkerchief. Then he set to tying the strip of cloth tightly over the now-crimson handkerchief and red-spotted sleeve.

 “I don’t need you rushing headlong into things for my sake all the time.”

 “Maybe you do, and you don’t know it yet,” Jamie countered, taking the effort to raise his head enough to meet the Doctor’s gaze.

 “Or maybe I don’t, and you don’t know it yet.”

 “Can we discuss this another time?” Zoe requested.

 The Doctor and Jamie fell silent, until the Timelord finished up and checked his makeshift bandaging. “This’ll do for now,” he stated. “Alright, up we get.”

 With Zoe’s help, the Doctor lifted Jamie to his feet. Jamie winced at the pressure on his injured leg, but managed to not fall over.

 “I can walk,” Jamie assured the other two.

 “Jamie…” Zoe prompted.

 “With your help,” Jamie added.

 “That’s a good lad,” the Doctor remarked, shifting his arm around Jamie’s waist to get a stronger hold. He kissed the younger man’s cheek. “Now, let’s not go too quickly.”


	2. Bloody Hands- Nyssa, Tegan, Fifth Doctor

 Nyssa ran through the battlefield littered with fresh dead bodies and still-living people left behind and crying out for help. She wasn’t sure how she had become separated from the Doctor and Tegan, but nothing was going to stop her from finding them again.

 She tripped over a body, and slipped in a patch of mud. At least, she hoped it was mud. She went down, landing on her hands and knees. She let out a little cry as she looked down at her hands. She bit her lip to stop the feeling of nausea at how much her hands were covered in blood.

 Nyssa flinched back from the profusely bleeding body, nearly falling over backward. She steeled herself, then pushed up from the damp ground back to her feet.

 She glanced around as she wiped her hands on her skirt. “Doctor? Tegan?” she called out. She didn’t think they had been in the middle of all this, but they had been nearby the last she had seen them.

 Nyssa raised her hands to see that they were still very covered in blood. Wiping them on her skirt hadn’t done much to clean them. She lowered them to her sides and went on, trying not to let the damp stickiness get to her.

 She slipped again, and shouted out for her two friends again, sounding more desperate this time. She couldn’t get the idea of being covered in blood out of her head, and she closed her eyes and took deep breaths to head off the bout of hyperventilating.

 Nyssa shuddered when she rubbed her cheek with her hand and left a dark red smudge on it. Her entire body started to tremble, and she shook her head. “Come on, Nyssa, you’re fine. You just have to find them.”

 Finally, only a moment after Nyssa had wandered off of the huge battlefield, did she hear the voices of her friends.

 “Nyssa!” the Doctor shouted first. Tegan’s followed an instant after.

 It was Tegan who reach her first, not even hesitating to pull her into a hug. “Are you okay?”

 “Y-yes. None of this is mine. I don’t think any of it is, and… Sorry for getting it all over you.”

 Tegan didn’t care, just held on to Nyssa even tighter. The Doctor wrapped his arms around both of them, also not caring about the blood.

 “I-I feel… I feel…”

 The Doctor gently shushed Nyssa. “It’s alright. We’ll get you cleaned up, and see how you feel then.”

 Nyssa stiffly nodded, taking comfort from the light kiss to her hair from Tegan and squeeze of her shoulder from the Doctor.


	3. Insomnia- Mike Yates/John Benton

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one fits into my Yates/ Benton "After..." fic.

 Mike turned over again in the bed, facing away from Benton. He could tell it was going to be another restless night of little sleep, and swung his legs over the edge of the bed to get up. He did so slowly as to not jostle Benton too much to wake him. He took a long affectionate look at his sleeping partner before he left his bedroom.

 He decided that maybe he needed some fresh air, and went out onto the balcony. He took a deep breath of the cool crisp night air, and closed his eyes. His thoughts returned to the ones that had been plaguing him every night for over a week.

 Llanfairfach.

 The Doctor had assured him there was no shame in what had happened to him there. The Brigadier had agreed, especially since it had all worked out in the end.

 Still, Mike had been… tortured, brainwashed, forced to try to kill the Doctor.

 It hadn’t been his fault, the Doctor told him. But Mike thought otherwise. He had been weak and helpless, when he should’ve been stronger to resist it all. And now, his mind wouldn’t let him get a good night’s sleep because of it.

 How much he would love to just… sleep peacefully. But when he did get to sleep, he would wake up soon after from the nightmares. Quietly, thankfully, so Benton wouldn’t be disturbed. He didn’t deserve to suffer with Mike.

 He felt so exhausted, and he couldn’t give anything his full concentration. They were all lucky that nothing recently demanded his full focus at UNIT. Mike snorted at the idea, because then he’d definitely be a weak failure if he let something happen because of this.

 Mike shook his head, and went back inside. He heavily sat on the couch, and let out a long breath. He reminded himself that what had happened to him wasn’t something most people could just brush off a few minutes later, or even a few hours later. Although, not for the first time, he wondered if the Doctor’s blue crystal had actually returned him back to normal, or if it had left something in his mind…

 “No, don’t start on that again,” he urged. He started thinking about everything good in his life, most especially the man in his bed. Once he thought he was calmed enough, he went back to his bedroom and crawled into bed.

 Benton let out a sleepy mumbled, “Anything the matter?”

 “It’s nothing, John,” Mike assured. “Go back to sleep.”

 

 The next evening, soon after the football game on the television ended, Benton drew Mike into a kiss. Mike smiled at the attention. But that smile turned to a frown when Benton’s mouth ghosted down to the side of his neck.

 “John. John, stop.”

 Benton immediately backed away, and Mike flashed an uncertain little smile. “It’s not you. It’s just… I’m tired, and… maybe I should call it an early night.”

 Instead of looking sadder, Benton nodded. “Good.”

 “Good?”

 “You haven’t been sleeping well lately.”

 “You noticed?”

 “Of course I have. I didn’t think I needed to mention anything.” Benton laid his hand over Mike’s. “Llan… Wales was hard on you. I think anyone who went through what you did there would have trouble sleeping.” He patted Mike’s knee. “Go to bed. I don’t think I’ll be long, myself.”

 Mike leaned in to give Benton a kiss goodnight, and went to the bedroom. He spent a few minutes sitting on the edge of the bed, willing himself to think pleasant thoughts. Once he felt ready enough, he laid down under the blankets, and closed his eyes.

 He didn’t fall fully into sleep until Benton came in and cuddled him from behind.

 The insomnia finally faded over the next couple of days.

 ********

 Mike couldn’t sleep. How could he, with everything he had done, had been part of? Once again, he had been the weak and helpless fool, taken advantage of and used. How could he have let this happen again?

 Whatever had made the Brigadier go easy on him when he dismissed him earlier today… Mike didn’t think he deserved it. Put on medical leave with the chance to retire from UNIT quietly? No court-martial, no arrest, no nothing? After what he had done, what he had tried to do? There couldn’t be any excuse for that, any reasoning that could make it better.

 Out of habit, he extended his arm to the other side of the bed, and squeezed his eyes shut at the empty space. Benton wasn’t here, and Mike doubted he ever would be again. Had it only been a few hours ago when Benton had come over and been rightfully angry at what had happened?

 Mike deserved that much, at least, to lose John. John deserved so much more than the pitiful excuses of being weak to explain away the events of today.

 Mike let out a cry of frustration and despair. He deserved it, all of it. And his mind certainly was adamant to let him know that.

 He sat up, got out of bed, and put on some clothes and shoes. He would go out walking, and maybe, just maybe, he could wear himself out enough to get the smallest morsel of sleep.


	4. “No, stop!”- Peri, Sixth Doctor

 Peri bolted upright in her bed. “No! Stop!” she shouted, her hands flailing in front of her to fend off the feeling of large hands around her neck. “Doctor, please! Stop!”

 Peri’s breaths came out fast and hard as she fully awakened from the nightmare, or was it really more a memory? Her heart thudded violently in her chest.

 She jumped at the urgent knock on her door, and froze at the voice that called out, “Peri? Are you alright?”

 “I… I-I’m fine, Doctor,” Peri answered, trying to sound braver than she felt. The Timelord’s voice sounded concerned, the complete opposite of how he had sounded only a week or so ago when he had accused her of being a spy or imposter and attacked her.

 Peri shook her head to try to clear that memory. He wasn’t like that, not really. He had just been… recovering from a traumatic regeneration. He wasn’t going to attack her again, and she had to believe that. She was giving him the chance to prove himself, despite how much she missed the other Doctor- the sweet and polite one who made her feel welcome and like a friend. This one… this one was loud and brash and egotistical, and she wasn’t quite sure what he thought of her. It was hard to believe they were the same man, even though she had literally watched him change before her very eyes.

 “Peri?” the Doctor’s voice was still concerned.

 “Y-yes?” Peri didn’t think she was still afraid of him. She would’ve demanded he take her home or leave her somewhere else if she was.

 “May I come in?”

 “I guess?”

 The Doctor took that as enough of an invitation, and opened the door. Peri slightly smiled at the fact that he wasn’t in his multicoloured nightmare of an outfit, and was instead dressed in sensible pyjamas. He stepped inside, and left the door open, adding the light from the corridor to the dim lighting of the bedroom.

 “It was just a nightmare, Doctor. Nothing to worry about.”

 “Didn’t sound like nothing, although Human brains have a tendency to be overstimulated by negative experiences or thoughts while they sleep.”

 There it was, that arrogance and put-down of her species. Peri resisted the urge to argue back against that.

 The Doctor approached and stopped a few feet away. “It also does help to talk about nightmares, sometimes.”

 “Talking about nightmares isn’t too primitive for you?”

 “No. Nightmares are a trait amongst most sentient species, and several non-sentient ones, too.”

 Peri shook her head. “You won’t like it if I tell you.”

 The Doctor sighed and kneeled down beside the bed. “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”

 Peri thought for a long moment. Then she relented. “Promise me you won’t get angry or upset at me? I don’t think I could handle that right now.”

 The Doctor’s mouth opened slightly for a few seconds before he stated, “It’s about me, isn’t it?”

 Peri nodded. The Doctor seemed to physically deflate as he sat fully and brought up his knees to his chest, his eyes staring at a wall. She quickly added, “I know you were poisoned and going through trauma and… but I was didn’t think you would ever hurt me. But then you attacked me and… and I was so scared. And you… you didn’t stop until I picked up the mirror. ”

 The Timelord was silent for a minute, and Peri couldn’t read his face to know what he thought. He finally said more quietly than she had heard him speak before, “All I can do is apologize, and not give any excuses.” He turned his gaze to her, but it seemed almost… shy and uncertain, a far cry from his usual behavior. “I’m still trying to figure this me out. Attacking you, it wasn’t like me. At least, I hope it’s not. I don’t want it to be.”

 “Do you even like me anymore?”

 “Maybe this me isn’t as good at showing that kind of thing as the previous me was.” The Doctor blew out a hard breath. “All the same, I would understand if you didn’t want to stay, if you wanted me to take you home.” 

 “I don’t want to go home,” Peri stated.

 “I could take you anywhere else you wanted to be.”

 “I just want you to not scare me or hurt me like that again.”

 “I’m past that bout of intense madness. I won’t let it happen again.”

 “I always thought you were a little crazy,” Peri joked.

 “Always a little crazy?” the Doctor snorted lightly. “I suppose I must appear that way. Anyway, I’m relieved you’re not fully judging me on that instance.”

 “Everyone deserves a chance, right?”

 “Yes…” the Doctor’s gaze now seemed faraway.

 Peri cleared her throat after a few seconds. “Now, I’d like to get back to sleep.”

 The Doctor nodded as he stood. “Goodnight, Peri.”

 “Night, Doctor. Thanks for the promise.”


	5. Poisoned- Barbara Wright/Ian Chesterton

 Barbara looked down at her hands in shock and horror at the explanation of what was possibly on the giant seeds she had touched. “Ian…” she started.

 “I wouldn’t touch them. It could be very dangerous at our size,” Ian went on.

 Barbara let out a breath, then decided not to worry him. “Yes,” she agreed, wiping her hands on her trousers, then on Ian’s handkerchief. They still felt slightly sticky, but she tried not to let it bother her too much. They would revert back to their normal size soon enough, and the pesticide wouldn’t be any danger to her anymore.

 Unfortunately, that didn’t happen quickly enough, and it wasn’t long at all before Barbara started to feel weak and fatigued. She knew she was in trouble when she had fainted and woken up to Ian looking down at her with sheer concern.

 All Barbara wanted was to be held in Ian’s arms as she recovered from the poisoning. She wanted to tell him what had happened, but at the same time wanted to hide it and not concern him or the Doctor and Susan when they had all reunited. There wasn’t anything they could do about it now, not until they were back to their normal size.

 Barbara’s vision filled with swimming black dots and lines. She forced herself to stay upright, but noticed she leaned on Ian more and more for support when she sat, stood, and walked. She noticed her fingers and toes feeling colder. She kept silent as that coldness slowly creeped up her legs and arms.

 She just wanted to curl up in a nice warm bed, covered with blankets. Maybe drinking a nice hot cup of tea. Despite that, she insisted on staying to stop the spread of the poisonous pesticide and doing her part to help the others alert the authorities. She forced herself to stand and lift and do everything she could to help, despite the growing pain and stiffness in her muscles. She had faith in Ian, the Doctor, and Susan to get her back to the Tardis in time.

 And they did. She sat on the chair and watched with pure relief as the seed on the other chair shrank, or rather they grew. She smiled as she felt the pain all over her body recede as the poison was diluted.

 Barbara still felt the same exhaustion, but it didn’t worry her. She soon went to the bedroom she shared with Susan, and laid back on one of the beds.

 Ian came in a few minutes later, a hug mug of tea in his hand. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

 Barbara sat up with a smile. He had read her mind. “Just tired, is all. No surprise, with all we did today.”

 “And from the poisoning,” Ian added. He handed Barbara the mug, and pulled a chair next to her. He let her take a few sips before he said, “You should’ve told me, when you knew.”

 Barbara took a deep breath of the steam coming off the tea. “I tried, but then I decided it would be better for you not to worry about me when there wasn’t anything we could do about it.”

 “You know I won’t see it that way, right?”

 “Maybe not, but it all worked out in the end. I’m alive and well, and we stopped that deadly pesticide.” Barbara reached out to lay her hand over Ian’s beside her on the bed. “Though I do appreciate you worrying about me, anyway.”

 “Good, because I don’t think I’m going to stop doing that.”

 They leaned forward at the same time, the pleasant scent of the tea steam rising between them. They smiled as their foreheads gently touched, and their noses brushed against the other’s.


	6. Betrayed- First Doctor, Ian/Barbara, Vicki

 The Doctor stared at Ian and Barbara, mouth half-open in shock at what they had just asked of him. Teach them how to operate the Dalek’s crude version of a Tardis for a one-use trip back to their time and place? They couldn’t be serious. And… it felt like a punch to the chest. It felt like betrayal.

 Why? After everything the three of them had shared together? After all the highs and lows they had experienced? After how close they had become? Ian and Barbara wanted to leave, on a whim when given the opportunity to use a shoddily put-together mockery of his own ship?

 “I’m sure the Doctor could teach you everything you needed to know, and more,” Vicki agreed with the couple.

 The Doctor stared at the girl for a few seconds, disbelieving that she had no immediate problem with this. But, despite fitting in perfectly with the three of them, she hadn’t been with them as long. She wouldn’t have the same depth of…

 The Doctor shook his head, and headed towards the exit. “I don't want to know! I want none of this! I've never heard such nonsense in my life! You'll end up as a couple of burnt cinders, flying around in spai- in space. You idiots! You are absolute idiots!”

 “We are not idiots! We want to go home!” Barbara protested.

 Home? The Doctor swallowed heavily. Yes, the pair still did have that desire, and he had tried, he still would try to do that for them. He did owe them that much, didn’t he?

 “I want to belong somewhere, do something, instead of this aimless drifting around in space,” Ian stated.

 “Aimless? I've tried for two years to get you both home!” Didn’t they see that? Didn’t they understand that? Didn’t they see what a betrayal it was to ask him to help them in this dangerous folly?

 It hurt. It hurt so much, too much. Did they not trust him? How could they not, after everything? After two years that somehow felt much longer?

 The following argument hurt, and the Doctor knew he wasn’t being fair to them, but he had to make them see.

 Vicki tugged the Doctor’s sleeve. “Doctor? Doctor, you've got to let them go if they want to. They want to be back in their own time.”

 The Doctor turned to the girl, deciding that if two wanted to leave him, so must the third. But Vicki assured him she didn’t. The Doctor put his arm around her, so very grateful.

 “It’s up to them,” Vicki said, her soft voice somehow being so certain.

 She was right, and the Doctor knew it. Despite his own personal feelings on the matter, it was up to Ian and Barbara. As much as he didn’t want them to go, especially through this means, it was up to them.

 The Doctor led the three of them back into the Dalek ship. A fifty-fifty chance for Ian and Barbara to make it to their precious home or to be blown up and become atoms in the time-space vortex. Those weren’t the best of odds, certainly not enough to risk it in his mind.

 Still, they were set on this, and he was going to do his best to make sure they got home alive and well. As much as he didn’t want them to leave, he definitely didn’t want them to die.

 He wondered if this was how Susan had felt, when he had locked the door and told her it was for her own good that she be left behind.

 The Doctor finished instructing the pair on how to operate the ship and blow it up after they got home.

 The four of them held onto each other far longer than necessary as they said good-bye. This wasn’t a betrayal, the Doctor told himself when they let go and he put his arm around Vicki. This was them moving on, going back home. They deserved it, to go home and be happy together living a normal life, if that’s what they wanted.

 He and Vicki watched the Dalek ship dematerialize, and all he could do for several long moments was stare at the spot it had been.

 Vicki gently tugged on his arm. “Doctor, we can see if they made it home, with the time-space visualizer!”

 They hurried to the Tardis and he set the machine. They watched as the couple laughed together on a bus.

 “Doctor, they made it! They made it!” Vicki hugged him tightly.

 The Doctor’s hearts soared at the image. The couple leaving him like this wasn’t betrayal, despite the pain in his hearts. No… it was love. He loved Ian and Barbara, and he knew that, despite choosing an alternate way home, they did love him.

 “I shall miss them. Yes, I shall miss them, silly old fusspots. Come along, my dear, it's time we were off.”


	7. Kidnapped- Jo Grant

 Jo cried out as someone pounced on her from behind, but the sound was quickly muffled by a large hand covering her mouth. She bit down on the hand, and tried to make a run for it when the grip weakened.

 She only made two steps before someone else grabbed her. Then a third person joined in, and together they maneuvered her arms behind her back and put a bag over her head.

 “Let me go!” she screamed, which only got an unseen punch to her stomach. She bent over and coughed through the pain. That was enough for the people to pick her up and shove her into what she assumed was the back of a van.

 Jo heard the door slam shut and felt the vehicle begin to move. She tried to fight back as someone lifted her arms and handcuffed her hands to the wall. The bag was lifted from her head, but only long enough for a thick cloth to be tied around her head over her mouth.

 Now, unable to see or speak, Jo really felt afraid. She had been kidnapped before once, with the Doctor only a couple of weeks ago during that business with the Master and the Autons, but to be kidnapped on her own with no one else to help or comfort her that they would get out of this and everything would be okay?

 “That’s the Doctor’s girl, yes?” Jo heard a voice ask.

 “Matched the photo.”

 “Perfect.”

 Her captors didn’t say anything else, and her attempts to ask them what they wanted with her were muffled and went unanswered.

 She had only gone out for a Sunday morning stroll at the park. How long would it take for the Doctor and UNIT to find her? They weren’t expecting to see her until tomorrow. What did these people want with her? She was new to UNIT, and hadn’t done anything important in her three weeks there. Ransom, information, something worse?

 Jo squeezed her eyes shut to try to stave off the rising panic and fear. They would come for her soon. They had to.


	8. Fever- Ace McShane, Seventh Doctor

 Ace let out a long pained moan and tried to turn over onto her side. A pair of hands stopped her and turned her fully on her back again. Her body felt like it was on fire, so hot and unrelenting.

 “Ace, please, try to be calm,” the Doctor encouraged.

 All Ace could manage in response was another moan as she weakly grabbed at one of the Timelord’s hands.

 She had fallen into a lake at the end of their most recent adventure, and in return she had been infected with something. Something that gave her this unbearably high fever. It had gotten worse over the past couple of days, until she was barely able to move outside of thrashing around in her bed.

 Ace’s hands clenched as a shiver violently went through her.

 “Ace, listen to me. You’ll be alright.”

 Ace cracked her eyes open to look at the man. “Pro- Professor…”

 “I think calling me Doctor would be a little more appropriate for this situation,” the Doctor said lightly.

 Ace’s lips twitched at the joke. Then her eyes squeezed shut again as another wave of hot pain went through her body, intense especially in her head. “Hurts… hurts so… so much…”

 “I know,” the Doctor replied soothingly. His hand brushed through the loose hair over the girl’s face. “It’ll pass, I promise.”

 “S-sorry,” Ace said, for at least the tenth time since this had started.

 “No need for that. Everyone gets ill from time to time.” A few minutes later, the Doctor asked, “Do you think you can handle soup? You do need to eat at some point.”

 The mere thought of eating anything made Ace’s stomach roll with nausea, and she shook her head. Even if she managed to get it down, she didn’t think it would stay down for very long.

 “That’s fine, for now, then.”

 Ace thrashed again, and kicked off the layers of blankets. The Doctor quickly spread them back over her.

 She couldn’t stand it, feeling so hot and so cold at the same time, while pain and stiffness raged through her nerves and muscles. She latched onto the Doctor’s hand again.

 “You’ll get through this, Ace. You’re strong.”

 “And… and I-I’ve got you.”

 “Yes, I’ll take care of you,” the Doctor whispered. He closed the already short distance between them to kiss Ace’s forehead.


	9. Stranded- Third Doctor, Liz Shaw

 The Doctor and Liz stared out at the fields, now peppered with ongoing explosions in horror. Explosions in the caverns where the Silurians hibernated.

 “He… I told not to, and he…”

 “Surely he had a good reason,” Liz said softly. “He must’ve been under orders.”

 “That doesn’t-“ the Doctor started loudly, then quickly softened his tone. “That doesn’t make it right.”

 “Maybe not, but…”

 “But what?” the Doctor asked sharply, finally looking away from the explosions to look at Liz.

 “If he makes a habit of disobeying major orders, he’ll be replaced by someone else. Someone who might not want to deal with you and your… eccentricities.”

 The Doctor was too upset to entertain that line of reasoning. “Would you mind if we went for a drive?”

 “Drive where?”

 The Doctor waved his hand airily. He just needed to be anywhere but here.

 “Alright,” Liz agreed.

 A couple of hours later, still driving aimlessly around the countryside, Bessie came to an unplanned stop on the side of the road. “Something the matter?” Liz asked.

 The Doctor didn’t answer, still as silent as he had been at the start of the drive. He simply got out of the car and lifted the hood to inspect what could be the problem.

 Liz gathered her coat around herself, feeling a bit of chill picking up as the sun lowered in the sky.

 A moment later, the Doctor grunted in frustration and slammed the hood down. Then he made an apologetic expression and patted the hood. To Liz, he stated, “We’re stuck, and it’s not something I can fix out here.”

 “Well, we’re too far from any civilization to find a phone box or house to call HQ to pick us up.”

 “Yes, that… that was rather the point. I couldn’t… I needed to be away.”

 Liz didn’t comment on that statement, having known it without him needing to tell her. “So, we’re stranded.”

 “Yes, we’re stranded,” the Timelord replied with a defeated tone. He pulled up the canvas cover of the car. “That should keep some wind out.” He went out to scout around, in case they had missed something that was nearby.

 The Doctor came back only a few minutes later, and he heavily sat in the driver’s seat. “Sorry, my dear.”

 “Someone will find us,” Liz said, keeping her voice light.

 “In trying to work through my own sense of being stranded, I’ve stranded you.”

 “There’s certainly worse company either of us could be with in this situation.” At the Doctor’s lack of response, she asked, “Your own sense of being stranded?”

 “You know I can’t make my Tardis go anywhere.”

 “I know, but… this isn’t the worst place to be.”

 “It’s still… difficult.” The Doctor snorted. “Maybe it would’ve been better if they had taken my Tardis completely, instead of leaving it with me. It’s like a taunt, an insult.”

 Liz shivered, and the Doctor stopped going down that train of thought to wrap his arm around her and pull her in close against his side. They both looked up at the darkening sky in concern.

 “Someone will find us,” Liz assured. “Maybe even the Brigadier. He’s dependable in that way, whatever else you might think of him.”

 The Doctor sighed and laid his head on Liz’s, thinking of what to do if they were out here for much longer.


	10. Bruises- Fourth Doctor/Sarah Jane

 Sarah let out a long groan as she slowly sat up. The Doctor made a similar noise beside her.

 “Are you alright?” they asked in unison. Sarah answered first with, “That was certainly a nasty trap,” as she looked up the distance they had fallen down the trapdoor. “I’ll be bruised for a week.”

 “Come on, no use sitting around here,” the Doctor encouraged as he pulled Sarah up with him. They both moved with an obvious limp.

 When they emerged from the tunnels and caves and out into the sunlight, they stopped, and Sarah gingerly sat on the thankfully soft grassy ground. Her arm was wrapped around her side.

 The Doctor joined her on the ground. “Let’s take a look at the damage.”

 Sarah lifted the side of her shirt, and winced at the large amount of redness on her side, which wrapped around a bit of her front and back. “That’ll be massive.”

 “It was a rather nasty fall we took,” the Doctor reminded.

 “You don’t have to tell me that.” Sarah fully took off her shirt to let the Doctor see the all of the damage on her torso. Two large bruises wrapped around her forearm and bicep, and at the sight of one peeking above her waistband, she took off her trousers to inspect that leg. “Oh, this is definitely going to be bad.”

 The Doctor gently pressed on the bruising areas to check for any fractured or broken bones. Sarah closed her eyes and shifted in discomfort as he did so, but didn’t feel any sharp pains. “You’re fortunate, I don’t feel any,” the Timelord reported.

 “That’s a relief. Your turn.” Sarah carefully redressed.

 The Doctor removed his top layers, and sighed at the sight. “I was expecting something similar to you.”

 Sarah finished pulling on her shirt. “So we’ll both be wanting nothing but ice baths and not moving for a few days when we get back to the Tardis.”

 “Need me to help you check if anything’s broken?”

 “If you wish.”

 Sarah copied the motions that Doctor had done on her, with some verbal guidance from him.

 “Tender, but I don’t feel anything worse than that,” the Doctor said as Sarah’s hands pulled away. As he pulled on his clothes, he said, “Come on, I don’t think we have much left to do here.”

 Sarah hummed. “Good, because right now all I want to do is get in our nice bed together and do nothing but lay still.”

 “That’s a plan.”

 They were both grateful that the next few hours before they got back to the Tardis didn’t involve any running or high-energy activity.


	11. Hypothermia- Ian/Barbara, Susan

 Barbara still felt cold, even an hour after they had teleported away from those snowy mountains and the ice caves of Marinus. She also noticed a lethargy in her muscles and was worried it would affect her mind, too. Her body hurt in a strange stiff way, and she felt a sort of dizziness.

 She knew it must be an effect of spending so much time exposed to the elements on the mountain, and wondered if Ian was feeling it, too. He had taken longer to awaken in that despicable trapper’s hut than she had, and had seemed more confused than she had upon awakening. That initial confusion had seemed to pass quickly enough, but now Barbara wondered if that was only because of the adrenaline needed to deal with the immediate situation of finding Susan and the others on the mountain.

 This only made Barbara worry for Ian more, now that they had split up to try to find this final key in this city. If she was still being affected by what she hoped was not hypothermia, certainly he was, too. It would be a question for the Doctor, whenever they managed to find him here.

 Barbara felt another shiver go through her, and a heavy wave of dizziness made her head swim. Yes, certainly something to tell the Doctor about, or maybe even any doctor in this city.

 She had just finished checking an index of museum pieces when she passed out. The next time she was awake and coherent, she was met with the sight of a very worried Susan hovering over her, and she was on a bed encased in several layers of warm blankets.

 “Why didn’t you tell us you had hypothermia?” Susan asked.

 “I do?” Barbara slightly shook her head to clear away some of the fogginess.

 “Yes!”

 “Didn’t think it was that bad. Must’ve slipped my mind in all the excitement.”

 Susan sighed, and nervously bit her lip. “Ian’s been arrested for murder and theft.”

 Barbara quickly sat up, which brought back a wave of dizziness. She laid back down. “What?”

 “There will be a trial soon, and… oh, I wish Grandfather were here.” Susan took a breath. “When you’re fit, we’ll have to work on proving Ian’s innocence.”

 “I better be fit very soon.”

 ********

 Ian shivered heavily in his jail cell. The blow to his head when he’d been attacked from behind certainly hadn’t done him any favors, but he knew this was more serious than that. His entire body felt stiff and cold, and it wasn’t because this room wasn’t heated enough. He’d been feeling this most of the day.

 That time on the mountain, he and Barbara had no idea how long they had been laying there in the blizzard, practically half-buried in snow. That experience almost certainly would have effects lasting longer than an hour after being found.

 He just felt so exhausted, his muscles seemingly not wanting to respond to his intentions any more. He didn’t even care to eat the food given to him, even though his stomach let him know it wanted it.

 This wasn’t normal, wasn’t right. Something was wrong with him. And if something was wrong with him, then Barbara must also be suffering like he was.

 “Barbara…” The name came out slurred. Ian shouted for the guard as loudly as he could.

 His body tipped forward off the cot, and to the floor. Without the strength to get back up, he curled up to try to stay warm. He heard urgent footsteps before he fell unconscious.


	12. Electrocution- Fourth Doctor, K9

 “K9!” the Doctor shouted as streams of sparks erupted from the unfamiliar console where the robot dog was working. The next thing he heard was a high-pitched almost-scream as bolts of electricity shot out from the ruined console.

 The Doctor jumped into the light show, grabbing K9 by the tail and looping his other arm around the dog’s neck to pull him away. One hand seized up as the electricity jumped from K9 to him, but he gritted his teeth against the intense pain and kept his legs moving backwards.

 The Doctor tripped over his unsteady feet, and the pair landed together on the floor, thankfully now far enough away from the console. The Timelord groaned as he turned over onto his side, the electrocuted hand clenching in pain. He watched as the electricity fizzled out some.

 “K9?” The Doctor patted the side of the dog’s head. He sat up and shook his head. “K9? Answer me?”

 “Ma… Master?” K9 responded after an agonizing moment of silence.

 “There’s a good boy.” The Doctor smiled in relief, and lifted K9 upright. “Are you alright?”

 “Run… running self diag-diagnostics.”

 “That was a rather nasty trap,” the Doctor remarked, now examining his injured hand. Now he noticed the pain had traveled up to at least his elbow. There were a few light burns along the skin.

 “I will need… need re-repairing, Master,” K9 stated. “I-I will tell you specifics when we get… get to the Tardis or someplace with… with com-comparable capabilities.”

 “You can hold out that long, can’t you?”

 “Aff… irmative, Master.” K9’s tail wagged slightly and one of his ears turned. “What is-is your condition?”

 The Doctor shook out his hand, which didn’t make any of the pain go away. “I’ll live.”

 “That is not-not an answer.” K9’s sensor probe on his eyes extended towards the man. “Injury in… in right hand and forearm aff-affecting nerves and muscles.”

 “Yes, I had gathered that, thank you.”

 “Rescue attempt was… was risky to your person. Sho-should not have tried it.”

 “And leave you to be fried to bits? I think not.”

 “I-I am re…placeable, Master. You are not.”

 “Nonsense! Who’s been telling you that?” At K9’s lack of answer, the Doctor sighed. “You’re a good dog, and let no one tell you otherwise, myself included if I ever do. I won’t mean it.”

 “Affirmative.”

 The Doctor grimaced at his hand, then asked K9, “Can you move?”

 “Negative. Motor circuits d-damaged.”

 “That’s alright, I’ll carry you.”

 “Inadvisable, with your… your injured arm. I do not wish to be cause of… of pain.”

 The Doctor stood, and smile as K9 raised his head to keep looking at him. “You won’t be. Come on.”

 The Doctor didn’t let out any external sounds at the pain picking his friend up did cause, not wanting to cause him any more worry.


	13. "Stay"- Third Doctor, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Mike Yates

 Alistair walked in UNIT’s infirmary and looked over the clipboard detailing the Doctor’s condition after he had gone off on his own to face an alien threat. Then his gaze went to the man semi-conscious in the bed. The Timelord would make a full recovery, but it had been a close thing. If his men had found him even a little later, the Doctor might not have made it.

 “Brigadier?” the Doctor’s voice was quiet and slurred.

 “You’re safe, Doctor, don’t worry,” Alistair assured.

 “Tried… peaceful solution…”

 “I know you did.”

 “She… she didn’t agree…”

 “Unfortunately, yes. We’ll catch her and deal with her, and she’ll wish she had accepted your peaceful offer.”

 The Doctor closed his eyes and let out a long breath as his attention faded.

 Alistair pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed deeply, wishing he didn’t have to see his friend like this.

 “Ah, there you are, sir,” Yates greeted quietly as he walked in. “Will he be alright?”

 “You know him, Captain. Give him a few days, and he’ll be back to his normal self.”

 “Can’t wait.”

 “Was there anything specific you needed?”

 Yates quietly relayed the new information on the situation. When he finished, Alistair nodded and said, “Right, back to it, then.”

 As the Brigadier turned, he felt a weak tug on his sleeve. He turned back to the semi-conscious man, whose fingers were gripping the fabric.

 “Stay…” the Doctor whispered, his eyes half-open.

 “I can certainly find someone to stay with you, if that’s what you want.”

 The Doctor’s head shook slightly and his hand fully wrapped around Alistair’s wrist. “Stay…”

 “I think he means you, sir,” Yates remarked.

 “I can’t spare the time to indulge you, Doctor.”

 “I know what needs to be done right now, sir,” Yates stated. “I can handle it.”

 With Yates’ assurance, and the Doctor’s weak but determined grip on his wrist, Alistair gave in. “Very well, then.” He glanced around for a nearby chair, and Yates quickly brought him one. He settled at the Doctor’s bedside, and patted the man’s hand on his wrist.

 “I’ll get to work,” Yates said to excuse himself.

 The Doctor didn’t really let go of Alistair’s wrist, instead letting his hand slip onto the sheets when he fell asleep.

 ********

 Alistair had dozed off, and jolted back awake at the still-weak hand that wrapped around his wrist again.

 “You… you stayed?” the Doctor asked, voice still frail-sounding.

 Alistair glanced at his watch, estimating that nearly a couple of hours had passed. “Captain Yates is capable in handling this stage of the operations.” He smiled softly. “And you seemed adamant.”

The corners of the Doctor’s mouth twitched upwards. “Thank you.” He began to drift off again.

 Alistair stayed until he was needed by his men.


	14. Torture- Fourth Doctor/Sarah Jane

 “Stop! Let him go! He doesn’t know anything!” Sarah cried out as another yelp of pain escaped the Doctor’s mouth.

 “He knows something,” the interrogator said, leaning in close to Sarah’s face. “And he will tell us.”

 Sarah yanked her arms forward in another fruitless attempt to break free of the restraints. She winced as the device in one man’s hand came into contact with the Doctor's temple again, and he cried out louder this time.

 The leader stepped away from Sarah to circle around the Doctor. “You know something about the rebels.”

 The Doctor raised his head fully. “I could lie and tell you things, but then you’d investigate and discover I was lying, which would then make it worse for us when you returned, and be a waste of everyone’s time.”

 The leader punched the Timelord across the jaw, making his head snap to the side. “Then I suggest you start telling me truths.”

 The Doctor shook his head at the pain and at the prompt. “I don’t know how else to make you understand. I don’t know anything about these rebels of yours. We’ve only been here a short time, and have had no known contact with them.”

 Sarah protested, “Stop! Don’t!” as a man approached the leader with a hot poker.

 The leader took it and held it near the Doctor’s face, letting him feel the heat radiating from it. “You had better start answering my questions soon, or we’ll get more… primitive in our methods.” To make his point absolutely clear, he pressed the poker against the Doctor’s bicep.

 The Doctor gritted his teeth as the instrument burned through his shirtsleeve and began to burn his skin. He let out a small breath of relief as it was removed before it could do more than superficial damage.

 The leader tossed the poker aside and considered the Timelord tied to the chair. He tore open the front of the Doctor’s shirt, exposing the chest. He beckoned to one of the others, and was handed a studded thing that looked similar to brass knuckles.

 The leader stood in front of the Doctor and started striking. With her view of the Doctor obstructed, all Sarah could do was listen to the sounds of the weapon hitting flesh and the Doctor’s grunts and yelps. She cried out, begging the leader to stop, that they didn’t know anything.

 The leader didn’t stop until he was satisfied. He stepped back and aside to admire his work. The Doctor’s head hung low, blood dripping heavily from his nose and mouth. Blood trickled into his eyes from a cut on his forehead. His chest had red discolourations, and a few of those spots trickled blood.

 The leader seized a handful of curly hair and yanked the Timelord’s head up and back to force him to look up at the leader’s face. The Doctor kept his mouth closed to prevent any blood from his nose from leaking into his already bloody mouth.

 “There is a lot more where that came from,” the leader stated. “I will keep you here for as long as necessary for you to break and tell me what I need to know.”

 The Doctor held the other man’s gaze.

 The leader sighed and thought for a moment, then he grinned. “Perhaps we should… shift our focus.” He directed the Doctor’s gaze directly in front, at Sarah.

 The Doctor’s hearts felt like they skipped a beat. “No, don’t you dare,” he growled.

 “Or what? What can you do?”

 “She knows just as much as I do, which is nothing.”

 The leader let go of the Doctor’s hair, and clenched his fist with the weapon on it. Droplets of the Doctor’s blood fell from it. “Tell me what I want to know.”

 “He can’t!” Sarah shouted. “Because he doesn’t know anything about what you’re asking! And neither do I!”  

 The leader shook his head, and stepped towards Sarah.

 “No! Don’t touch her! Leave her alone! Please…”


	15. Manhandling- Susan

 Susan let out a noise of protest as one of the people who had captured her picked her up again and easily slung her over his shoulder. They were on the move again, and apparently they thought forcing her to walk would be too slow or give her more opportunity to escape.

 She was a hostage, or maybe even a prize, to them, being brought back to their hideout on the other side of the mountain. What they were going to do with her once they got there, she didn’t want be around long enough to find out.

 Susan beat her bound fists on the man’s back, and she received a smack to the back of her thighs for it. She tried kicking him in the stomach, and this time he called out for everyone to stop marching.

 Susan knew she was in trouble now, and when a circle had gathered around him, found herself flung down to the ground. Her hands went to her side as she landed hard on it.

 “I was just trying to communicate that I do have legs that work, so I can walk,” Susan stated.

 “Oh, we have caught ourselves a fiery little one,” jeered a woman.

 Susan as shoved from behind to the ground. She turned over onto her back, spitting out a few grains of dirt. The leader of the group chuckled and stepped towards her again. Susan quickly pushed herself to her feet, but the leader closed the distance between them and grabbed her hair to pull her up to her tiptoes. She grabbed at the wrist to try to push it away.

 “I suggest you start agreeing with the method of transportation, or you’ll soon have legs that don’t work.” To add to his threat, the leader swept her legs out from beneath her and let her fall.

 Susan wasn’t given a chance to recover before two strong hands from behind gripped her shoulders and yanked her back up to her feet. Then she was shoved towards the leader again, and she gripped at his shirt to stop herself from falling again.

 “I’ll take that as an invitation,” the leader laughed. He grabbed her bicep and, as roughly as possible, yanked her out of the circle. Once at the front of the group again, he effortlessly picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

 “If you kick me, or otherwise try to escape from me, I will not hesitate to deliver on my earlier threat. This is your only warning.”

 Susan blew out an angry breath in response, silently cursing how easy her small size made this. 


	16. Bedridden- Fifth Doctor

 The Doctor struggled to get comfortable in the bed again. He hated this lying around doing nothing.

 Still, he was bedridden and essentially quarantined due to some parasitic infection. While he had insisted he was well enough and wouldn’t pose a threat to anyone else, the locals weren’t going to take that chance. And when they didn’t convince him that this was for his and their own good, Tegan had taken charge of him and force-marched him to the closest place there was to keep him.

 With Nyssa hard at work helping to develop a treatment for the recent outbreak among the population, and Tegan helping her, the Doctor was left to his own devices, of which he didn’t have much.

 He didn’t feel well, but surely he was good enough for some light exercise. He quickly discovered after trying o jog a lap around his room that he was not, and sighed as he crawled back into bed.

 His muscles felt sore, and he wasn’t sure if it was the infection or the time spent in bed, or both.

 The worst part about this was that while his body wasn’t well, his mind certainly was, which meant he couldn’t even occupy much time with sleep.

 The Doctor blew out a frustrated breath and turned over onto his side, staring at the wall.


	17. Drugged- Second Doctor/Jamie

 Jamie made a sharp turn, staying just behind the Doctor as they ran. Without warning, he stumbled against a tree, his arms and legs suddenly feeling heavy. “Doctor!” he called, lagging behind then other man. He tried to keep his limbs moving forward. It would be bad for either of them to be caught now.

 “Come on, Jamie.” One of the Doctor’s arms wrapped around the younger man and half-pulled him along.

 “Something… thing wrong.” Jamie blinked slowly as his vision began to swim.

 “We’ll figure it out when we’re safe.”

 Jamie grabbed the other side of the Doctor’s jacket, though his fingers felt clumsy as they did so. Keep running, he willed his body. Whatever’s wrong, just keep running.

 He lost substantial feeling in his right arm first, and it hung uselessly against his side. The sounds of the hunting party behind them spurred him to keep running, and the Doctor wasn’t going to let go of him anytime soon.

 Jamie tripped over a tree root, and his legs nearly collapsed from the strain of staying upright. He tried to raise his numb arm to steady himself against a tree trunk, and almost brought down the Doctor with him.

 “That’s it,” the Doctor encouraged.

 “Which… which way are we going?” Jamie’s voice sounded slurred to his ears.

 “Doesn’t matter at the moment, as long as it’s not the way we came.”

 “Good plan.” Jamie shook his head and closed his eyes, relying on the Doctor to guide him for a moment. Not that his eyes were being much help, with his vision dipping and blurring.

 His right leg went out next, and the Doctor grunted as he suddenly had to support more of Jamie’s weight. They both heard the hunters getting closer, and Jamie urged, “Leave me, save yourself.”

 “Oh no you don’t,” the Doctor replied, stopping them and glancing around. “I’m not leaving you to these people.” He grinned as he heard something close by. Without another word, he hoisted up more of Jamie’s dead weight and half-dragged him along.

 “Doctor, please…”

 “Hush, Jamie, nearly there.”

 Jamie’s hearing had also muffled, but he realized the Doctor’s idea as soon as they came to a fast-moving river. “Can’t swim like this.” He could feel the numbness spreading to the arm around the Doctor’s shoulders.

 “You don’t need to. I’ll hold you.”

 “And risk drowning yourself.” Jamie’s remaining working leg collapsed as they slid down the riverbank.

 “A risk I’m willing to take.”

 Jamie had no choice as they were swept from the ground and the water pushed them to the middle of the large river. Not a moment too soon, as the hunters emerged from the trees and shouted after them.

 All four of Jamie’s limbs had gone numb, which made keeping his head above water a real struggle. Even if this was the gentlest of water flow, he would’ve sunk and drowned.

 The Doctor turned himself onto his back and locked his arms under Jamie’s to hold him tightly. The water buffeted them around uncontrollably, banging them against boulders and dunking them under. Jamie couldn’t process things in time, and his motions to spit out water and breathe were delayed.

 Eventually, the pair ended up in a calmer part of the river, a long distance from where they had started.  The Doctor kicked his legs and headed backwards towards the shore, pulling Jamie along. The younger man was barely coherent by now, and his limbs still weren’t moving with any purpose.

 The Doctor breathed deeply as he hauled Jamie up to safety, then fell to his knees beside him. “Jamie?”

 Jamie moaned, then violently coughed up water. The Doctor rolled him ono his side and protectively huddled over him.

 “Why… why do I feel… weak?” Jamie asked between breaths.

 “Perhaps something in their wine. You drank it, didn’t you?”

 Jamie hummed his affirmation. “You didn’t?”

 “I wasn’t feeling thirsty.”

 “Lucky you.”

 “Fortunate for both of us.”

 “Yeah…” Jamie’s body finally gave in to the effects of whatever he had been drugged with, leaving the Doctor to watch over him.


	18. Hostage- Sixth Doctor, Peri

 The Doctor and Peri raised their hands at the three men who pointed weapons at them, and were marched along the museum corridor to the large room. It already had a sizeable crowd of frightened people sitting in the middle, with more armed people watching over them.

 “A hostage situation?” Peri whispered to the Doctor.

 “Looks that way,” the Doctor replied.

 “Quiet! No talking!”

 The Doctor made a face and closed his mouth. It wouldn’t do to annoy these people right now. He and Peri were pushed towards the crowed with rifle butts, and Peri grabbed his arm to steady herself and stop him from verbally protesting at the rough treatment.

 They sat together at the edge. Peri started quietly comforting a sniffling pair of children, while the Doctor kept his eye on the armed people in front of him, working on figuring them out.  

 A few minutes later, one of them reported to another, “That’s all of them.”

 “Good, then we can get started,” said the other, obviously the leader.

 The Doctor stood, wanting some answers. “Excuse me,” he said, taking a few steps forward. “What gives you the right to interrupt what is a wonderful day of knowledge and learning to round us all up-“ The Timelord cried out at the rifle butt that slammed into his face from the side. “There was no need for-“ Another strike to his stomach.

 “Quiet!” commanded the one who had hit him.

 The leader approached and sighed. “There has to be a troublemaker, doesn’t there? And dressed like that, you would be the one.”

 Peri got up to pull the Doctor back to his spot and down to sit again.

 “There was no need for that display of barbarism,” the Doctor said. “I was simply asking a question.”

 “That is your warning,” the leader stated, before turning and pulling out a video recording device. Into it, she started speaking, “To those in charge of this country of Hakna, we have a few demands, and a few incentives for you to consider, starting with these hostages.” He swept the camera over the crowd. “Now, to business. We want Jafot Melen released from prison, and…”

 The Doctor let out a long breath, and patted Peri’s lingering hand on his shoulder. They looked up when the leader finished and came to them. She crouched down with an almost amused smile. “Perhaps I should separate you from the rest of these people. You seem like the riling up type.”

 “There’s no need for that. We’ll behave,” Peri spoke up.

 “Weren’t you already told to be quiet?” the leader prompted.

 Peri clamped her mouth closed so hard her teeth clicked together.

 The leader turned to the Doctor. “Or maybe I should separate you from each other.” She glanced to Peri. “I’d take you away by yourself.”

 The Doctor met the woman’s steely gaze as Peri’s hand tightened on his shoulder.

 “A hostage to make a hostage behave,” the leader chuckled. “And a first hostage to prove that we are serious.”

 Neither the Doctor or Peri needed any elaboration on what that meant.

 “So, I suggest you both stay quiet and follow any other directions.”

 As the leader left them, Peri wrapped both arms around the Doctor, and he whispered into her hair, “We’ll be alright.”


	19. Exhaustion- Seventh Doctor, Ace

 How long had they been walking for now? Ace had lost track of time as they trekked across the desert landscape. She was so tired and hot, and barely able to even carry her jacket slung over her shoulder. Her feet dragged in the sand, leaving a long trail behind her instead of discernable footsteps.

 She looked ahead to the Doctor, who had taken her backpack to ease Ace’s struggle. “How much further?” she asked.

 The Doctor clambered up a boulder, and Ace could see a hint of fatigue on him, too. “I can’t tell,” he answered a few seconds after standing atop it.

 Ace suddenly dropped to her knees, her legs too exhausted to even stand any more. She dropped her jacket on the sand in front of her, and tipped forward onto her hands.

 “Ace? Ace!” The Doctor jumped off the boulder and hurried to the girl.

 “Sorry…” Ace breathed. “Can’t keep going. Have to rest…”

 The Doctor kneeled beside her and put his arm around her. “I suppose a few minutes can’t hurt. I could do with one, too.”

 “Just out luck… Dropped in the middle of a desert to find our way back… to civilization.”

 The Doctor guided Ace all the way down to lay her top half on her jacket. Then he took off the backpack and spread his own jacket over her face to shield it from the light and heat of the intense sun.

 “Thanks…” came the slightly muffled response.

 With Ace taken care of as much as he could, the Doctor gave into his exhaustion and laid down with his head on her side. He took his sweater and placed it over his head.

 Ace reached out for the Doctor’s hand, and she closed her eyes when his fingers gripped hers.


	20. Concussion- Fourth Doctor/Sarah

 “Doctor!”

 The Doctor groaned and raised his head at the concerned call of his name. His ears rang, and a pain in his head spiked.

 “Doctor? We’re going to get you out,” said another voice.

 “Please, answer us?” the first voice asked. It took the Timelord a moment to place that voice, and he answered Sarah with a wordless affirmation.

 What had happened that had left him alone, laying on his front on the rocky dirt floor of a cavern? His memory was fuzzy, and he couldn’t bring to mind any specific details. Except maybe… a bright light and loud noise?

 That could certainly account for his ringing ears. He opened his eyes, and squeezed them shut again, instantly feeling a harsh sensitivity to a nearby half-powered floodlight.

 His entire body ached, the source of it seeming to be his head. Slowly, he positioned his arms under him to push himself up to his knees, but he only ended up turning himself onto his back. He felt strangely uncoordinated and fatigued.

 “Sa…Sarah?” the Doctor called out. He moved a hand up to go through his hair, but it landed on his face instead.

 “We’re coming to get you. Just give us a minute,” Sarah replied.

 The Doctor tried to turn to the direction of her voice, but gave up and let out a long breath. What had he even been doing in here? He focused his mind on recalling any details he could while Sarah and the others shifted rock and wood.

 Something about… stopping a crazed miner from using a laser mining cannon? No, no… that had happened in his previous life. No, he was… inspecting something? That sounded more correct. What was it? He grunted in frustration, and decided to ask Sarah exactly what was going on.

 Oh, did his head hurt, and he put his hand over his eyes to prevent any light from seeping through the lids.

 A minute or so later, Sarah called his name again and she kneeled at his side.

 “Ah, hello, Sarah,” he greeted, raising his head but still keeping his eyes firmly closed. “Do you know what I was doing down here?” He felt the presence of a couple of other people around him, but ignored them.

 “You ran ahead of us, trying to find the trail of that creature.”

 It was like a veil had been lifted. “Ah, yes, that’s it. And… I take it there was an explosion? I remember some of that.”

 “Yes. Thankfully, you don’t look too worse for the wear.”

 Someone else asked how he felt, and the Doctor relayed that information.

 “Concussion, I’d say,” said another person. “Though I’ll need a more thorough examination to know for certain.”

 The Doctor rolled into his side, and Sarah grabbed his arm to help him to his knees. “Pretty sure I can work my legs well enough.” He moved to put his arm around Sarah’s shoulders, but nearly smacked her in the face. “Sorry.”

 “You can sit right here for a few more minutes,” Sarah replied. She grabbed his face gently. “Can you open your eyes?”

 The Doctor hesitantly did so, and ignored the ache in them as he smiled at the sight of Sarah’s face.


	21. Harsh Climate- Vicki, Steven

 Steven stumbled against Vicki as she led the way through the swampy jungle. They were both hot and sweating from the humidity and physical exertion to keep moving. Steven hoped they would get out of the swampy part soon, wincing at the burning muscles in his legs. He could tell Vicki was feeling the same pains.

 Vicki stopped to rest against a thick tree trunk, and breathed heavily. Steven joined her, holding her up with one arm around her waist, just in case she slipped in the deep mud.

 Vicki leaned back against Steven, and looked up at him as she wiped at her eyes. “How are… how are you holding up?”

 “Just as well as you, I think.”

 “Oh good, so no trouble then.”

 Steven chuckled at the joke. Then they both flinched, then froze at a predatory growling sound nearby. Steven could feel his feet starting to sink further down into the swampy mud, but they couldn’t move, couldn’t risk whatever animal was out there hearing them. Vicki couldn’t help but worry that their heartbeats and breathing would be enough to alert it to their presence.

 Thankfully, the animal passed by with no incident, and they slightly relaxed. Unfortunately, that delay had been long enough for the swamp to start to claim them.

 “Steven?” Vicki’s voice shook as she tried a second time to lift her feet. “Steven, I can’t move my legs.”

 Steven immediately tried lifting his feet from the mud, and found his were stuck as well. “Neither can I.” He quickly added for both of their benefits, “Let’s not panic.” He glanced around, and saw a nearby branch from the tree they had been resting against. It looked low enough, but was it close enough?

 Vicki also saw it, and reached out for it, coming up well short and nearly falling fully into the swamp. Steven caught her around the waist and pulled her back up. Then he made the attempt, and strained his half-buried calves.

 “Come on,” Vicki encouraged.

 “Almost…” Steven’s fingers brushed against the branch for a second, then he barely managed to wrap his index finger around it. With that, he was able to pull it close enough to grasp it firmly with his hand. “Got it!” With the extra leverage, he was then able to grab Vicki’s hand and pull her up high enough out of the mud for her to lift her feet again. He then held the branch with both hands to pull himself out the same way.

 They resume their trek, agreeing not to rest again in the swampy part for fear of becoming stuck again.

 “Good thing the Doctor’s not with us,” Vicki remarked.

 Steven nodded. “Yeah, I can’t imagine how he’d fare in all this, if we’re struggling this much.”

 Finally, they came to more sturdy land. By now, they were completely exhausted, and definitely needed a rest.

 “I don’t fancy being on the ground,” Vicki said.

 “Neither do I.”

 They looked up at the trees around them, and found a thick branch that could support them both. It was low enough for them to get onto, but high enough to prevent easy access from the dangerous animals on the ground. Steven bent his knees and cupped his hands. Vicki muttered an apology as she stepped in his hands with one muddy foot.

 She steadied herself against the trunk, and told Steven she was ready to be boosted up. She apologized again as she stepped on his shoulders to climb the rest of the way.

 “We’re due for a change of clothes anyway, whenever we get out of this jungle,” Steven remarked, watching Vicki get into a good position to help him. He backed up several steps, then took a running start.

 The soles of his muddy shoes slipped, but found just enough purchase on the rough bark to propel him up enough for him to grab Vicki’s outstretched hand. He clambered onto the branch, and laid on his front with his face on his forearms.

 “You alright?” Vicki asked.

 Steven raised his head and nodded. “You?”

 “As well as can be.”

 They both shifted to a more comfortable and stable position against the trunk, and breathed heavily, letting their muscles finally fully rest. They had a long distance left to go before they would be out of this harsh place.


	22. Friendly Fire- Harry Sullivan, John Benton

 Harry rolled to a stop, grasping his shoulder and groaning in pain. He clenched his teeth and looked back up the hill from where he had been thrown. Benton was trying to fight off the three ambushers.

 Harry pushed himself back up to his feet and ran back up to join the struggle. He tackled one man off of Benton, and received a strong punch to his stomach for it. Harry admitted wasn’t a fighting sort of man, but he had learned some combat in his navy training.

 He thought he had this one down, and turned to Benton, who had knocked another one out. He flinched at the close sound of a gun going off, and turned back to see the man on the ground with Benton’s pistol.  

 “Warning shot,” the man grinned. “We ain’t here to kill you.”

 “That’s nice,” Harry remarked before engaging with him again. It took him a minute to wrestle the gun away and leave him unconscious.

 Harry looked to Benton, who was struggling with the final ambusher. Unlike the previous one, this one really did look like he was trying to kill Benton. They were too far away for Harry to rush the attacker, and he grimaced as Benton dropped down to his knees from a hard blow to the head. He had to take this man out quickly.

 Harry considered the gun in his hand, and shouted for Benton to move as he aimed it. Benton staggered up to his feet to move aside, without knowing what Harry was about to do. Unfortunately, the shout alerted the attacker, who yanked Benton back in front of him, just as Harry pulled the trigger.

 Benton cried out and went down, clutching at his calf with one hand. Harry couldn’t let that stop him right now, and after an aiming adjustment, fired again, this time getting the attacker below the knee. Then he ran towards them.

 Benton gritted his teeth as he recovered enough to punch the ambusher across the jaw twice, knocking him out cold.

 Harry reached the soldier as he completely collapsed on the ground, both hands now wrapped around the bleeding wound. “Benton?”

 “We got them all?” Benton said through clenched teeth. An involuntary whine escaped through them as well.

 Harry kneeled down next to the other man’s legs. “We did.” He lifted Benton’s trouser leg to get a closer look at the damage he had done. An intense wave of guilt washed over him at seeing it hadn’t merely clipped him, but had gone deep into the flesh, and at seeing it was causing him a lot of pain, despite his efforts to hide it.

 “Too bad one of them got me, too,” Benton stated, closing his eyes and breathing more harshly.

 “That was me, actually,” Harry admitted. “Terribly sorry. The chap pulled you back into my line of fire as I shot.” He moved Benton’s hands away from the wound to get a better look.

 “Will I live?” Benton asked, clenching his hands around grass.

 “Yes,” Harry answered with certainty. He didn’t have any medical supplies on him or in their truck, so he undid his belt and tightened it above the wound as a tourniquet. Then he eased Benton up to a sitting position in order to get one of the larger man’s arms over his shoulders. “And… up,” he encouraged.

 Together, they hobbled back to their truck. Harry couldn’t find anything to say as Benton forgave him in a shaky low voice. Even if any more words of apology would be enough for Benton, they wouldn't be for Harry's conscience.


	23. Self-Sacrifice- Liz Shaw, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

 “Brigadier, would you get me those tools in the other room?” Liz requested.

 As soon as Alistair crossed the threshold between rooms, Liz pressed a button on the console, and the clear glass door closed between them. She pressed the smaller button beside it to lock it.

 She was now the only one left in this room, and to stop what was about to happen. Someone had to be in here to work everything. Things were going to get dangerous, very probably deadly, and she was the only one who could do this. The Doctor wasn’t with them right now to work a miracle. She hadn’t told the Brigadier what stopping this exactly comprised of, because she knew he would try to stop her. She closed her eyes to prepare herself.

 Liz’s eyes shot open at the banging on the door.

 “Miss Shaw, open this door!” Alistair’s voice came through accompanied by more knocks.

 “I can’t do that, Brigadier.” Liz fought to keep her voice calm.

 “If you closed it, you can open it.”

 “I won’t. There’s no point in risking you, too.” Didn’t he see this would be difficult enough without him trying to talk to her like this? “The system needs to be overloaded, and I have to be in here to do it.”

 “Open this door, Miss Shaw! That’s an order!” At the answering headshake, Alistair shouted, “Liz!”

 Liz did her best to tune him out as she worked, pressing buttons and pulling levers and rearranging wires.

 She was saving the world, she reminded herself as her rising fear threatened to force her to stop. She had to do what needed to be done, even if it meant sacrificing herself to do it.

 The machinery whining in the room quickly grew to a high and near unbearably loud pitch, everything almost to the point of breakdown. Her hand hovered above the final lever to pull, and she looked to the side to Alistair, still trying to break in to stop her from going through with this. She couldn’t hear him now, but there was an unmistakable expression of panic and fear on his face. She didn’t need to read his lips to understand what he was yelling.

 Liz shut her eyes and yanked the lever before her own fear could stop her from going through with it.

 

 The next thing Liz was aware of was a pair of strong arms dragging her through glass and metal debris. She barely registered the scent and taste of smoke and the flickers of sparks and flames.

 Alistair stopped when they had cleared the blown-out glass door he had been desperately trying to break down himself a minute ago. He dropped to his knees and cradled the woman to his chest. “Liz?”

 “Did… I stop it?” Liz asked. She managed to keep her eyes half-open, and noticed the gashes across the sleeve of the man’s uniform. The tan-colour of the fabric was now becoming spotted with dark red. A few shallow cuts marred his cheek.

 “Yes, you stopped it. You did well, Miss Shaw.” Alistair gently brushed the hair from his friend’s singed and cut face.

 Liz’s mouth twitched upwards into a smile, only a second before her eyes closed and her body went slack.

 Alistair’s eyes widened, and he held her tighter. “Hold on, Liz. Help’s on the way. Hold on, please…”


	24. Drowning- Jo

 Jo gasped in air as she somehow broke through the surface of the choppy water. The storm had knocked her overboard from the fishing boat. She heard on the wind cries of her name, but slipped back under before she could even attempt to answer.

 Jo desperately kicked her legs in the direction she hoped was up as the waves crashed over her and forced her down further. She hadn’t been able to close her mouth in time, and panicked as water filled her throat.

 Everything seemed so dark, and she couldn’t tell any direction, until she saw a section that seemed lighter than everything else. She breached the surface again, only to be met with another crushing wave before she could hack up water and breathe properly.  

 She swallowed more water, and she flailed from the terror that if she stopped moving, she would sink effortlessly down into the depths.

 This time when she broke through the water’s surface, she was able to spit and breathe. She drew in a deep breath and shouted, “Mike!” Unfortunately, the remaining water in her lungs came up in a violent coughing fit halfway through the name. She was still coughing when she went under again.

 Jo’s limbs and body were exhausted, now struggling to even do the most basic of movements through the water. Her legs didn’t want to kick, her arms didn’t want to paddle, her chest felt so tight and painful.

 Still, she fought through all of that one more time. She could only manage a wordless shout this time, and could only hope they had heard her over the storm and waves.

 “I think I see her… over there!”

 The tightness in her chest and fatigue in her body became too much, and the last thing she saw before plunging back under again were the lights from the boat turning towards her.


	25. Restraints- Tegan/Nyssa

 “Oh, it’s no use,” Nyssa stated, leaning her head back to rest on Tegan’s shoulder.

 “There’s certainly no use in giving up,” Tegan replied in an attempt to encourage the other woman to keep trying to undo the ropes around them. She tried pulling her hands bound in front of her apart enough to slip one through the ropes. She grunted in frustration as it only ended up rubbing her already raw skin even more so.

 Tegan copied Nyssa’s movement and leaned her head back onto her shoulder to rest. Even if they somehow managed to untie through own hands and feet, the pair was still tightly tied to each other, back to back.

 Nyssa started shifting her legs one at a time to see if she could get one out from between the ropes around her ankles. She winced at the way the rough material dug through her thin trousers. She kept it up for another moment before thinking of what else they could do to get free.

 “Maybe… if we could turn around, we could untie each other’s hands,” Nyssa suggested.

 “Worth a try,” Tegan agreed.

 Having their legs free would make this easier, but they had to do without that convenience.

 “Alright, let’s both turn to our lefts. Ready… go.”

 Both women tried their hardest to turn their bodies towards each other for a minute, but there was no slack in the ropes around their torsos to allow more than a few inches of turning.

 “Whoever tied these would do well in the Scouts,” Tegan remarked as both women stopped moving in unison.

 “Do they specialize in restraints and knots?” Nyssa asked.

 “Knots are something they’re tested on, yeah.” Tegan grunted and tried freeing her wrists again. “Still, we can’t give up, love. The Doctor needs us, I’m sure.”

 Nyssa chuckled. “Face it, Tegan, I think we need him more at the moment.”

 Tegan snorted lightly, then attempted to wriggle down Nyssa’s back. She made it down a few inches, but the ropes caught under her breasts, and she pushed herself back up to be comfortable.

 “There is a bright side to this situation,” Nyssa said when the back of Tegan’s head rested on her shoulder again.

 “Is there? I’m not seeing it.”

 Nyssa giggled lightly. “If there’s anyone I’d be tied up with and tied to, it’s you.”

 “I suppose,” Tegan sighed. She couldn’t help the small smile as Nyssa turned her head awkwardly to kiss her temple. She waited a moment before saying, “Though I still don’t want to be here much longer, or we might start losing feeling in our hands and feet.”


	26. Broken Ribs- Fifth Doctor

 The Doctor landed heavily on his side, and instantly gasped at the sharp pain in his upper torso. He rolled over onto his back and stared up at the purple sky above, processing the pain.

 It had definitely been a long fall onto hard ground, and his ribs weren’t the only thing protesting it. But that was where the pain was most intense. He breathed too deeply, and winced at the stabbing sensation.

 Very gingerly, the Doctor moved his hand across his ribcage to where it was most painful, and pressed. At the yelp that escaped his throat, he knew it was definitely the right spot. Even more carefully, he pressed again, and felt three of the bones move in a way that made nausea roll in his stomach.

 Certainly broken. He squeezed his eyes shut and slowly rolled over onto his other side to relieve some of the pressure from the injured side.

 He turned his face into the grass as his hand fisted tightly in it. He sucked several shallow breaths through clenched teeth. He slowly drew his upper leg up, feeling a little more protected in case anything came for him, not that he sensed any other living presence near him in the ravine. Still, he opened his eyes and lifted his head to make certain.

 Feeling safe enough, the Doctor closed his eyes again and rested his head on the ground, trying to breathe through the pain.


	27. “I can’t walk.”- Third Doctor, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart

 “Doctor!”

 The Doctor turned at the pained shout of his name, and rushed back to Alistair, who was leaning heavily against the cave tunnel wall. “Brigadier?”

 Alistair slipped down a few inches before the Doctor reached him, and he looked up at the Timelord. “Some…” He clenched his teeth. “Something got me.” He gripped harder on the wall. “My lower back.”

 The Doctor moved around the other man, and aimed his headlamp down his back. He found small puncture hole in the uniform, just to the right of his spine.

 “I assume it was one of those things we’re trying to avoid down here?” Alistair asked, trying to keep calm as an intense pain began to build in his thighs.

 “Probably,” the Doctor answered. “I have no idea what the effect of being stung by one is, so we’ll have to get back to the surface.”

 Alistair shifted his legs in discomfort. “Right, back to the surface then.” He took a step, and cried out in agony. He clutched at the wall for support again.

 The Doctor immediately grabbed the other man around the chest to hold him upright. “Brigadier?”

 Alistair heavily swallowed. “Well, I can tell you one effect. There’s pain spreading throughout my legs.” He breathed deeply. “Just my infernal luck.”

 The Doctor took one of Alistair’s arms over his shoulders and pulled him fully upright. “Ready?”

 Alistair nodded, mentally steeling himself for the pain he knew was about to come. He breathed a little easier when, instead of the intense pain of before, he felt more of an ache throughout the entirety of both legs. He gritted his teeth through the first few shaky steps, but that was as long as he had before his legs completely gave out.

 The Doctor caught Alistair before he could fall further down than his to his knees. The Brigadier looked up to him. “Doctor, I… I can’t walk.”

 The Doctor pulled Alistair back up to his useless feet again. “That’s alright, we’re still going to get out of here.” Without warning, he bent down to grip Alistair behind the knees, and effortlessly lifted him into his arms.

 “Doctor?” Alistair looped his arm around the Doctor’s neck for added stability.

 “Thankfully, I can walk for the both of us.” The Timelord began to walk down the tunnel.

 “I hope… I hope you can also fix whatever it’s done to me.”

 “I’ll do my best, my dear Brigadier.”


	28. Severe Illness- Second Doctor/Jamie

 The Doctor was sick. Very sick. Jamie wasn’t sure what to do other than make him comfortable and stay by his side.

 Jamie jolted awake from his light sleep at the high-pitched moan from the man in the bed. “Doctor? I’m here.”

 The Doctor weakly turned his very pale face towards the younger man. “J-Jamie?” His voice sounded more strained and hoarse than the precious time he had spoken.

 “That’s right, Doctor, I’m still here.” Jamie took the Timelord’s too-cold hand. “I’m not going anywhere, believe me.”

 “Wouldn’t-“ the Doctor broke into a violent coughing fit, and Jamie gently laid a hand on his chest to prevent him from rattling his body too much. “Wouldn’t doubt that.”

 Jamie responded with a watery smile that he hoped was reassuring, but then he admitted, “Doctor, I… I’m worried. What do I do if this gets worse?”

 “What you’ve been doing is… is good.”

 “I haven’t been doing anything.”

 The Doctor weakly patted Jamie’s hand. “You have…” He took a deep breath, and winced. “It’ll run its course, and I’ll… I’ll be back to my regular old self.”

 “And you’re sure of that?” Jamie couldn’t help it, with what the Doctor was telling him and the Doctor’s physical condition not matching up.

 The Doctor still managed to look indignant even with his worn exhausted face. “Of… course I am.”

 Jamie lightly said, “You’ve been sure of things before, and the situation proved different.”

 “But it… it always worked out.” The Doctor beckoned for Jamie to move in closer. Once the younger man was close enough, he feebly grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down until their foreheads touched. “It’ll be… be the same with this. I promise.”

 “Okay,” Jamie breathed, taking the Doctor’s word as fact.  


	29. Seizure- Fourth Doctor/Sarah

 Only a moment after Sarah took a sip of the offered wine, her hand began to shake and she dropped her glass. Her jaw clenched, and a pained sound escaped her lips.

 “Sarah?” The Doctor immediately left his seat to hurry to her side. He grabbed her around the shoulders to keep her upright as she listed to the other side and nearly fell out of her chair. “Sarah!”

 Sarah tried to open her mouth, but all the muscles in her lower face seemed locked, and she couldn’t get a word out. The muscles in her neck quickly followed, and her head spasmed, causing the back of it to strike the back of the chair.

 The Doctor quickly moved one hand to cradle the back of Sarah’s head to protect it from further unintentional abuse. He turned to the others at the table, teeth bared. “What is this?”

 The woman at the head of the table simply smirked and raised her own glass of wine to her lips. “Simply a way to incapacitate you.” With an almost bored sigh, she added, “It will dissipate in time.”

 The Doctor let out a frustrated growl as he also noticed the guards at the doors, who hadn’t been there before. He turned his attention fully back to Sarah, wishing he hadn’t accepted the courteous meal with these people. “Sarah?” The woman’s eyes were wide with fear and pain, and she couldn’t quite focus them on the Doctor.

 The Doctor pushed the chair back enough to take Sarah and gently lay her on the floor, taking off his scarf and placing it under her head. The muscles in her limbs and torso tightened and began to seize as well. One of her hands caught the front of the Doctor’s vest and clenched it tightly. She tried to speak, but still couldn’t get her jaw to work properly.

 The Doctor gently tilted Sarah’s head back, and tried to soothe her by petting through her hair. He took her other hand as her breathing became ragged and irregular. “Sarah, it’ll be alright.”

 All the Doctor could do was watch and try to comfort her as Sarah suffered through the effects of whatever drug or poison she had drank.


	30. Caretaker- First Doctor, Ian

 “Doctor, this way,” Ian said, taking the older man’s arm. He wasn’t sure what was wrong with him, but something had certainly left him not himself, belligerent and seemingly unable to understand what was going on.

 The Doctor tried to pull his arm away, but Ian’s grip was firm. “I-I can walk, Ches… Chessman.”

 Ian didn’t bother correcting him again, having been called some sort of wrong variation of his name several times in the past hour.

 “Where are you taking me, young man?”

 “I’ve told you before, to safety, so that I can go off to find Barbara and Susan.”

 Thankfully, not too long later, they reached the edge of a city. The Doctor was barely able to keep walking with Ian by now, and Ian had to support most of the Doctor’s weight upright on his own. “I could use some help over here!” he called out to anyone within earshot.

 That got them to a hospital within a reasonable time, though the diagnosis wasn’t good.

 The Doctor had brushed up against a poisonous plant, which had the effects of slowing down mental and bodily processes. It certainly explained the gradual decline of both in the old man.

 The doctors administered the antidote, but explained that Ian would need to constantly stay by his side to watch over him as he recovered. Apparently it could be a slow and painful process.

 Ian let out a long breath when the doctors and nurses left them in the room, and looked at the weak Doctor in the bed. He wanted to go off to find the girls, but he was stuck here, playing caretaker for the Doctor instead. He ran a tired hand over his eyes.

 “Sometimes, Doctor, you really try my patience,” Ian admitted without any real malice behind it. “Maybe they’ll find us.” He tucked the blanket around the Doctor more snugly, then gently patted his shoulder. “In the meantime, I’ll take care of you.”


	31. Showdown- Third Doctor, The Master

 “Give it up, Doctor!” the Master shouted from across the deep divide in the ground.

 The Doctor flicked his head in a futile attempt to get his windblown hair from over his eyes. Both men stumbled at another deep rumble, which split the ground a little more.

 “Perhaps you should give it up,” the Doctor called back. He cautiously eyed the gun the Master held, though it was aimed at the ground instead of him.

 “Come now,” the Master spread his arms. “We both know I have the advantage!”

 The Doctor slipped a hand into his pocket for his sonic screwdriver. “What good is the advantage if you die immediately after? Your machines are destroying the ground we’re standing on!”

 The Master simply threw his head back and laughed.

 The Doctor glanced around at another rumble from the ground, and noticed a few shallow cracks forming. He had to catch the Master. Who knew what else he had planned after this. If he was going to do it, he had to do it now, before the gulf between them widened too much.

 The Doctor took several steps back and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. The Master seemed to take this as a retreat, and smiled at him. The Doctor stopped, and set his sight straight for the other man. He sprinted as fast as he could, outstretching his hand holding the screwdriver and activating it, hoping it would affect it somehow to prevent it being fired. He launched off the edge.

  The Master’s reflexes were fast enough to aim and fire the gun, catching the Doctor in the leg halfway across.

 The Doctor cried out from the deep stabbing pain, but still made it to the other side. He rolled sideways to a stop and clutched at his thigh.

 The Master laughed again. “Nice try, Doctor. Perhaps you’ll still manage to escape.” With that, he ran off to safe ground.

 The Doctor pushed himself up to his knees, and lunged forward, but crashed back down to the rumbling ground as his injured leg flared with agony. He gritted his teeth as he raised his head, watching the Master get further and further away.

 A split began to form just inches to the Doctor’s left. He slammed his hand on the ground, and forced himself back up to his hands and knees to crawl to safety.  


End file.
